23 May 2011, Geneva
“Today at the World Health Assembly, European countries, along with all World Health Organisation Member States, endorsed the WHO strategy for HIV/AIDS for the next five years, which sets ambitious goals and strategies to guide the health sector’s response to HIV/AIDS.
This strategy will only be effective if it is matched by a political commitment from countries to deliver. One of the key indications of that commitment will be the outcomes of the UN High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS in New York next month, where governments – including EU countries – will be committing to the blueprint for the next decade of the global AIDS response.
But the support given by European Union member states at WHO contrasts starkly with the position the EU bloc is adopting ahead of the UN summit, where it is seeking to remove any substance from a global target on the number of people living with HIV that will be provided with life-saving treatment. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called for 13 million people in need of HIV treatment to be on life-saving antiretroviral therapy by 2015. However, Medecins Sans Frontieres has learned the EU has removed any reference to a target, instead proposing vague language to “significantly increase the numbers of people living with HIV who are provided with access to HIV antiretroviral treatment”.
While EU countries including France, Germany, and United Kingdom are major contributors to the fight against HIV/AIDS, these countries must set an ambitious target, supported by policies that ensure access to affordable medicines. An ambitious treatment target is important if a credible global response is to be mounted to break the back of the epidemic and realise long-term commitment to achieving WHO strategies.”
– Dr Tido von Schoen-Angerer, Director of Médecins Sans Frontières’ Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines.
Don't trade our lives away 